Wildfires burning thousands of acres in North Carolina

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Firefighters are working to contain wildfires that have burned nearly 12,000 acres across North Carolina.

There were no reports of injuries or buildings damaged. A shelter for people in the fire area was opened.

The biggest fire has burned about 9,600 acres in the Alligator River Wildlife National Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. It started Monday as about a 60-acre fire in Hyde County that closed a section of U.S. 264 and spread into Dare County.

Media outlets report about 1,400 acres of woods in Brunswick County near Wilmington have burned.

On the other side of the state, a fire near Hot Springs on the Tennessee border has burned about 800 acres, forcing the closing of a section of U.S. 25 where it runs with U.S. 70.